I Just Need a Minute
by DrawnToTheRhythm
Summary: Tag for 'Death Knell'
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: I Just Need a Minute

RATING: PG

SEASON: Season 7

SPOILERS: 'Death Knell'

CATERGORY: Romance/HC

PAIRING: Sam/Jack

SUMMARY: Tag for 'Death Knell'

WARNINGS: None.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. If I did Sam and Jack would be married with a daughter named Grace by now and Pete would never have existed

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"Carter, you ready to go?"

"Just give me a minute, Sir."

Jack didn't need to be told in so many words what Carter had endured during the previous 48 hours; that sentence alone told him more than words ever could. Carter never needed a minute. Jack simply nodded and silently took a seat next to her on the ground. After a moment's deliberation he muttered a quiet "C'mere" and gently placed an arm around Sam's shoulders. Sam was too exhausted to even pretend that she didn't need the support. Instead she just leaned into his embrace, placed her head on Jack's shoulder and closed her eyes.

After several minutes Jack shifted and stood up. Carter groggily sat up, opening her eyes, and mentally braced herself to stand up. Instead she felt a strong pair of arms slide under her knees and around her back as O'Neill lifted her up and turned to Teal'c who was still stoically guarding the dead drone. Teal'c raised his head when he heard the crushing of gravel beneath Jack's boots and, without speaking, he walked to his team mates' position, gathered up their belongings and turned to O'Neill. Jack gave Teal'c an almost imperceptible smile but said nothing until Carter spoke up.

"Sir, you don't need-"

"No arguments, Major. You're injured and we're miles from the gate," he stated firmly, "Hell, I've had to carry T in a better condition than you are now!" he joked lightly but Sam's mouth barely twitched.

"Thank you, Sir."

He looked her in her half-closed eyes.

"For what, Carter? Sleep, that's an order!"

"Yes, Sir," she whispered before slipping into a deep sleep.

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	2. Chapter 2

The gate snapped into life and Sgt. Harriman uttered his usual warning.

"Unscheduled Off-world Activation!" He glanced up at General Hammond who ceased pacing behind his chair and leaned on the desktop. "It's SG-1's IDC, Sir."

"Open the iris, son." Hammond said quietly. Walter, who liked to think that he knew the General pretty well, realised that his use of that term of endearment was his only external tell of his nervous expectation. Walter shared the General's quiet concern. After all, he was rather fond of Major Carter and her team.

No sooner had the iris retracted three members of SG-1 stepped through onto the ramp.

"Medical team to the Gateroom!"

Jack O'Neill plodded slowly down the ramp with his 2IC in his arms. She was fast asleep with her head against his chest and her arms around his neck to hold her upright. Her clothes were heavily soiled and one leg of her green BDUs was stained scarlet. Teal'c trailed behind O'Neill, his arms full of equipment.

"Report, son."

"We found Major Carter under attack by one of Anubis' goons, Sir. She has a deep gash in her right thigh and has lost a lot of blood. I think she may also have a concussion, Sir."

"And the drone?"

"Dead. Sir." Carter had stirred from rest at the sound of her CO's voice.

"It has been successfully eliminated, General Hammond." Teal'c provided, "Major Carter provided us with the microchip which rendered the weapon effective with only two shots."

Hammond breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Well done, SG-1. Major Carter, get some rest. That's an order."

"Yessir," she mumbled, falling in and out of consciousness.

"Colonel?" The General nodded towards the blast doors.

"I'm already on my way, Sir!" Jack announced as he headed towards the infirmary with Major Carter still in his arms. He met the medical team half way down the corridor but refused to put her on the gurney until they reached the Infirmary, citing any further aggravation of her leg wound might cause her to bleed out in the corridor. Nobody argued. Once in the Infirmary, Janet took over.

"She'll be fine, Sir." She said as Jack placed Sam down on the gurney and stepped away to let the medical staff treat Sam. He was hesitant to leave her until he realised that Jacob was still in the VIP quarters waiting for news of his daughter.

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	3. Chapter 3

"Jack!" Exclaimed Jacob as the younger man walked through the door. He didn't need to say anything, Jacob could tell just by the relief on Jack's face that he had found his daughter safe and well.

"She's OK, Jake." Even so, it was a huge relief to hear those words. "She has a leg wound and concussion but otherwise she's all right."

"Thank God!" Jacob muttered under his breath before turning to O'Neill. "Thank you, Jack," he said sincerely.

Jack just stared at his boots and rocked back on his heels.

"Just doing my job, Sir. No one gets left behind, right?" He briefly raised his head to look Jacob in the eye, his own eyes betraying his emotionless tone, and then began shuffling his feet awkwardly and heading for the door. Jacob didn't need Jack to say any more, he knew that the Colonel would be dead before he gave up on finding Sam. At first that realisation had troubled him but after five years, Jacob was sure that Jack O'Neill was the only man he would ever trust with his daughter's life and in more ways than one, so it seemed.

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Slowly Sam opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. After a few moments she noticed the man who was sitting vigil by her bedside.

"Jack?"

His eyebrows arched in mild surprise.

"Developing quite a habit there, Carter!" He said cheerfully. It took a moment for her brain to process that thought.

"Sorry, Sir."

"That's quite all right, Major. A four letter word is obviously easier to recall than a seven letter one!"

Sam looked confused.

"Sir?"

"Oh, for cryin' out loud, Carter, J.A.C.K, C.O.L.O.N.E.L…." he gestured emphatically with his hands and Sam smiled weakly as she nodded in comprehension.

"Ah! Yes, Sir."

O'Neill stood and moved closer to her face and began tapping an awkward rhythm on the bed rail.

"I should go and inform Dad that you're awake." He announced.

"My father's still here?"

"Yep! Been driving us all crazy these past few days. You know how tetchy those snakeheads can be!" Jack grinned, "Or maybe it's just dads!" His hands dropped to his sides. "You need anything? Gameboy? Yo-yo? Blue Jell-O?"

Sam smiled at him.

"No thank you, Sir. I'm fine."

"Yes, you are." He announced before his brain could process that thought. Sam froze. Jack mentally kicked himself. He _so_ hadn't meant to say that out loud! He cleared his throat.

"Well, I'll just…" he said pointing to the Infirmary door as he walked backwards. "Try to get some rest, Major."

Sam relaxed a little.

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir." Jack gave her one last smile and left. Sam sighed. Why was _her_ life so damn complicated?

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Thank you to all of my reviewers so far. Reviews make muses happy:D Next chapter will be posted soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Daniel had left the Infirmary and was walking down the corridor with his nose stuck in a book and sipping a cup of lukewarm coffee when Jack jogged up behind him and slapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Danny! Whatcha readin'?"

Daniel paused and knitted his eyebrows together. Since when did Jack care about 'The newly revised Oxford edition of Translations of Aztec Symbols'?

"Um, it's rather fascinating, actually, it's the updated version of the translations of-"

Jack drew in a short, sharp breath.

"Yes, Daniel, I'm sure it's a very interesting read, don't spoil the ending, will ya?"

_Ah, didn't think so_, Daniel mused before eyeing up Jack and realising what he was really there for.

"I've, uh, just spent the last few hours with Sam," he offered, "She's been asleep the whole time but it gave me a chance to catch up on my reading." Daniel waved the book casually.

"Well, thanks for the report, Daniel." Jack announced, glancing almost imperceptibly at a nearby on duty Airman. "I guess that saves me a trip to ol' Doc Fraiser's lair!"

Daniel gave Jack a puzzled stare but before he could say anything a loud yell came from down the corridor.

"NOOOOOOOOOO! Please, NO… DAD!"

Jack and Daniel simultaneously turned to each other:

"Sam!"

"Carter!"

and flung themselves towards the Infirmary doors. They were greeted with the sight of Sam Carter thrashing about wildly as a nurse unsuccessfully tried to restrain her. When she spotted the two other members of SG-1 her face paled.

"She's having nightmares, Sir!" the nurse yelled at Jack over Sam's loud protests. "We've already administered the maximum safe dosage of sedative but she just won't calm down, Sir."

"Where's Fraiser?" Jack demanded.

"She went down to the Commissary to get some coffee, Sir. When she left, Major Carter was sound asleep."

Jack fixed Daniel with a look.

"Daniel? I'm gonna go get the Doc, you-"

"Go, Jack, just GO!" Daniel yelled before sprinting to Sam's bedside. He gripped Sam's shoulders firmly and began to speak soothingly to her. "Sam, it's me, Daniel. You're safe now, you're in the Infirmary! Sam, listen to me, no one's going to hurt you or Jacob!" Sam's thrashing was subdued slightly at the sound of Daniel's voice but she continued to fight against his hands.

"No… have to get to the weapon… need the chip…"

"Sam, listen to me! The drone is dead, you helped Jack and Teal'c kill it, remember?"

"Wha-, I don't… Daniel, you have to help him!" Sam pleaded, her eyes rolling around in her head as though she was drunk.

"Help who, Sam?"

"The Colonel! He's… _oh God_!" she whimpered. "NO!"

At that moment Jack came stumbling through the door accompanied by the 5' 2" base CMO.

"What happened?" barked Janet before glaring at the nurse she had left in charge and shoving Daniel to one side.

"She must have been having nightmares, Ma'am, she just started screaming a few minutes ago!" The flustered nurse announced.

"I need 1mg of methotrimeprazine , STAT!" Janet yelled at the nurse who promptly disappeared through a doorway to retrieve the meds.

"Sam, it's Janet, can you hear me?" she said gently.

"Janet! Got to go back through the 'gate… Colonel needs… help!"

Jack moved around the other side of Sam's bed.

"Carter! I'm right here! You're safe now, we killed Anubis' drone."

Carter paused and looked confused.

"Sir?"

"It's OK, Major, Teal'c's guarding the drone. The chip worked."

"You sure, Sir?"

"Affirmative, Major! Now stand down, that's an order!" Jack barked.

"Yes, Sir!" Sam hesitated for a moment before going limp. Whilst Janet checked Sam's vitals the nurse returned with the syringe and methotrimeprazine. Janet took the vial from the nurse's hands and injected the drug into Sam's arm. Jack's brow furrowed and he turned to the nurse.

"I thought you said she couldn't have any more sedatives?"

It was Fraiser who fielded the question.

"Under normal circumstances I wouldn't recommend it, Sir, but Major Carter has been surviving on pure adrenaline for the past 48 hours and it has caused excess blood to flow through her brain. Now that her body is returning to its previous state, the reduction in blood flow and, hence, oxygen to Sam's brain is making her delirious, Sir."

"Should I be concerned, Doctor?"

"No, Sir. She should return to normal brain function within the next twenty four hours, we just need to keep her sedated and keep an eye on her until then."

_Now, why couldn't she have just said that in the first place? _Jack wondered_. Damn techno babbling scientists!_

"Oh, well, that's a relief!" Daniel announced, looking slightly less panicked. "Jack do you need me to…?"

Jack waved him off.

"That's OK, Danny. I'll take the next watch, you go get some shut-eye. I'll get Teal'c to wake you when it's your turn."

With a silent nod Daniel spun on his heels and headed out of the door, pausing only to take one last glance at Sam just to make sure she was sound asleep once more. Janet made one last check on Sam before heading back to her office on the opposite side of the room whilst the nurse busied herself tidying away the used meds and heading off to get Sam's next dose to keep nearby, just in case. Jack pulled up a chair and sat with his elbows resting on his knees and his chin resting between his palms. After a few minutes he pulled a yo-yo out his BDU pocket and began flipping the object up and down, tying it in several knots and then pausing to undo them. He repeated this series of actions over and over for the next few hours and every so often Janet would raise her head from her paperwork to glance over at her CO. To the casual observer he was simply playing with his yo-yo but Janet knew that his eyes never really left his sleeping 2IC. She had watched this scene so many times over the years that it had become as familiar as dressing Sgt. Siler's burnt hands. Not that Colonel O'Neill was the only one whose behaviour she had become so accustomed to. She had lost count of the number of times she'd had to wake Daniel from his translation-induced sleep in the very seat O'Neill was in now or how often she'd witnessed first hand Teal'c's silent, stoic bedside vigils as a member of SG-1 recovered from yet another injury. The members of SG-1 were closer than those of any other SG unit; it was a huge part of what made them such a great team.

_They're more than just a team, _she mused_, they're a family._ Teal'c was like a protective older brother to Sam and Daniel and, to some extent, the Colonel too. Similarly, Sam was like Daniel and Teal'c's sister and Daniel was the little-brother-all-grown-up of the group. Then there was O'Neill. In many ways he had been like a father figure to Daniel and a younger brother to Teal'c. When it came to Sam and Jack, however, Janet decided it was best to leave that particular relationship well alone. She was well-aware of the regulations that existed between CO and 2IC and as far as Janet was concerned, the two officers had followed those to the letter. Still, she couldn't help thinking, at moments like these, that her two friends were being robbed of something huge.

Maybe Janet was just reading too much into what wasn't there. After all, Sam was dating a cop from Denver and things seemed to be going pretty well. She wondered for a fleeting moment whether the Colonel knew about Pete.

…………………………………………….

Jack sat silently untying the knots in his yo-yo string as he contemplated the woman asleep in front of him. A task not all that dissimilar to the one currently occupying his hands, he thought. As soon as he unravelled one knot, three more seemed to appear in their place. There was a time when he felt like he knew Samantha Carter but that day in the elevator had made him realise that he didn't know her that well at all. Sure, he knew _Major Carter_ like the back of his hand, after all, she was his 2IC, and he felt like he had gotten to know _Sam_ pretty well after numerous team outings together but _Samantha_? Nope, he realised, he knew nothing but snippets of Samantha, the woman beneath the military façade. Somehow, the realisation of that fact had shocked if not pained him. Oh, he knew why, deep down, but it was something he would and could never admit, not even to himself. So he settled for what he could get. He'd rather spend an eternity by her side as a friend and comrade than risk losing her as… _something else_! The Colonel in him snapped to attention and blocked that path before he could go further along it. He was perfectly happy with his relationship with Major Carter. _Damn straight!_ The Colonel in his head yelled.

Now if only he could get Jack to listen.

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